2023 Rookie Minicamp / OTAs / Training Camp

[squire12]

Snippets from August 14th practice....

 

Injuries: CB Eric Stokes (PUP-Knee/Foot), TE Tyler Davis (ACL)

Not Practicing / Limited: OL David Bakhtiari (Rest), EDGE Rashan Gary (Knee), RB Lew Nichols (Shoulder), RB Tyler Goodson (Shoulder), OL Caleb Jones (Ankle), OT Luke Tenuta (Ankle), Tariq Carpenter (Back), DL Kenny Clark (Back)

Offense:

• Looks like No Bakh again today. Nijman back at LT, followed by Jenkins, Myers, Runyan, and Tom.
• Then Tom moved to LG and Walker came in at RT. LaFleur said beforehand that Walker has performed well.
• Nice body control from rookie Tucker Kraft in 1v1. Ran an out route against Jonathan Owens. Pass was behind Kraft, but he spun in air and caught it over Owens. Athletic play for a big tight end.
• Musgrave beats Rudy Ford.
• Watson sold a deep route and turned it into a stop, using his size to shield Nixon. Complete.
• Clifford can’t connect with Deguara downfield who had step on Sapp
• Toure absolutely smokes SJC. What a route and catch. SJC missed jam.
• Deguara beat Sapp. Incomplete.
• Doubs with double move v. Douglas down left sideline deep corner complete.
• Reed smokes Savage
• Qb and Musgrave not on the same page.
• Watts with step on Hooper down right sideline. Might have been out of bounds.
• Allen drops pass. Moore in coverage
• Chrest complete vs Thomas. Short catch.
• Incomplete to Heath v. SJC. Not on same page with QB. SJC good coverage.
• Miller beats Sapp easily.
• Deguara beats Johnson who was doing a lot of grabbing.
• Watson beats Nixon on a go ball from Jordan Love down right seam. Watson’s speed blew past Nixon at line.
• Watts beats Thomas on a slant.
• Allen beat Owens on an out.
• Davis beats Owens. Really physical player with that size.
• Double move from Toure beats T. Ford
• Deguara beats Leavitt on slant
• Chrest didn’t come back. Not on same page.
• Dubose with a great route and deep catch on Valentine. Valentine has been unreal so tip your cap to Dubose on that one.
• Fantastic toe drag swag from Doubs against Rasul in one on ones. Ref calls it a catch.
• 11 on 11s upcoming Nijman-Jenkins-Myers-Runyan-Tom
• Play-action right, rollout left. Defense really bought play action but incomplete. Love fires very high for Reed.
• Short run by Jones followed by a big time run by Dillon up the middle. Jordan Love’s hard count is legit. Nice running lane for Dillon behind Jenkins and Nijman.
• Smith beats Musgrave, nice pickup by Deguara to give Love time who finds Watson downfield.
• Jake Hanson back in team as No 2 center.
• Love just hit Watson on a deep out for about 30 off play action. Great route and throw. He was wide open by NFL standards.
• Nice cutback by Taylor to find running lane. McDuffie with the stop.
• Run to left side by Taylor, minimal gain.
• McGough at QB (Newman with 3rd OL):
• And another fumbled exchange. This is insane. Schneider and McGough this time. Averaging about 1 per practice.
• Grant Dubose contested catch. Thomas with tight coverage.
• McGough a designed qb run. Not quite fair with a red jersey.
• Starting offense back on field: Watson deep route clears space for intermediate crosser for Doubs, had him open but Love overthrows .
• Nice cutback by Jones.
• Clifford to Wicks on a slant. Slightly high but I’d count that as a drop for Wicks. Nice read by 8.
• And ANOTHER fumbled exchange. This time Hanson and McGough.
• Run for a few yards for McCrary
• Great read and throw from Love to Doubs, but dropped by Romeo.
• Love to Reed in stride with a nice hands catch by Reed. Jayden has been so impressive. Savage was close by.
• Love to Musgrave on a crosser. He’s easily open with SJC trailing in coverage. Big guy is a massive matchup problem.
• Clifford to Dubose short.
• Clifford to Wilson on the screen with more success against the 2s.
• Love intermediate out route to Doubs complete.
• Clifford buys time and finds Kraft running free across the middle. Nice play by the two rookies.

Defense:

• Owens starting again at S.
• Kenny Clark (back) a new injury at practice. He’s a DNP today.
• Valentine all over DuBose in 1v1s. Probably a penalty.
• Thomas with PBU on slant to Melton
• Owens all over Pearson pbu.
• Tyrell Ford great coverage on Wicks. Incomplete.
• PBU for Valentine v. DuBose. Sticky coverage.
• Moore physical with Kraft. Kraft can’t catch the one handed.
• 11v11s Van Ness and Wooden with ones. Valentine in for Jaire, Owens at safety.
• Slaton beats Runyan into backfield on Dillon run.
• Colby Wooden just exploded for a would be sack on Clifford. Wow.
• Second units in 11 on 11 (Leavitt and Moore at S, Thomas and SJC at CB):
• Play action by Clifford, Brooks and Ford into the backfield.
• Karl Brooks with a run stop followed by a false start on the offense.
• Miller (now at TE) beat by Cox for would-be sack
• Justin Hollins explodes in the backfield for a would be tfl. Quay also did a great job getting sideline to sideline on the play.
• Hollins beats Tom, Slaton gives Runyan a run, run stopped at LOS.
• Wooden taking Kenny’s place on the line today.
• Smith gets by Tom, Love moves right finds Dillon in flat. Great hustle by Wyatt for the stop.
• Love gets defense to jump with hard count. Free play. Brooks jumped. LVN might have had a sack. Love throws deep to Watson. Shemar contests. Almost caught by Watson but incomplete. Nice play by SJC.
• inside own 5: Walker blitzes, he and Brooks probably get a sack but Love finds Doubs on out route
• Rudy Ford pbu against Watts on a slant. McGough on the throw.
• Tyrell Ford pbu against Watts.

Scenario: 12 seconds left. Down 3. Ball at opponent 42.

• Defense protecting sidelines, draw to Jones who picks up 7-8 yards. He kneels to end play early. Offense spikes ball with 2 seconds left.
• Carlson good from 51. O’Donnell holding. Offense gets the tie.
• #2’s same scenario: QB draw by Clifford but not enough time to get the spike. Clifford wisely recognizes it and runs the play instead of spiking it. Throws deep but no chance. Defense bats it away. Defense wins.

Scenario: Ball at own 40.

• Clifford at QB ball at own 40:
• Run for a few yards by Taylor
• Van Ness, Slayton and Hollins stuff a run by Taylor.
• Quick out to DuBose
• Nice cutback by Taylor. Finds running lane.
• Brooks flies into backfield again. Clifford with an incredible fading away throw on an out to Heath. Immediate pressure gets negated by a great Clifford play.
• Nice job by Leavitt taking away initial read to flat but Clifford works back and finds DuBose over middle. Awesome day for DuBose so far.
• Wilson inside for a few.
• Wilson right tackle for a few.
• Nice pass rush rep by Cox, beats Newman at RT. Clifford throws away
• Would be sack by Cox, somehow unblocked. Clifford throws one up in end zone - almost picked by Thomas. Should have been actually but he dropped it.
• Starting offense’s turn from own 40 yard line (Walker at RT, Nijman LT, Tom LG):
• Nice play by Douglas to fill running lane as Dillon tries to bounce outside. Nice read and stop by McDuffie.
• Love with a rocket to Watson over the middle. Good protection. Fits pass between defenders. Douglas would have been able to make a contest/hit on him in a game though.
• Love finds Musgrave on shallow crosser
• Nice block by Deguara v. Mosby. Jones gets around outside.
• Love rolls left, Love rolls left. Complete to Reed in flat with a nice hands catch, Nixon right there.
• Valentine jumps an out route ran by Doubs on sideline. 80-yard pick 6. My goodness that 7th round pick is insane.

Special Teams:

• Carlson FG attempts: No good from 33 (O’Donnell holding) Good from 43 (Whelan holding) Good from 44 (O’Donnell)
• Good from 33 (O’Donnell) No good from 45 (Whelan) Good from 47 (O’Donnell)
• Some nice reps as fliers by Heath and Thomas.

Media:

• Jaire shanks a punt. Video
• Jones and Dillon drillwork. Video
• Wilson drillwork. Video
• Kraft Video
• Wicks Video
• Love to Musgrave Video
• DuBose Video
• Love to Doubs deep corner Video
• Melton out Video
• Reed Video | Video2

Interviews:

LaFleur Presser:

• LaFleur said Rasheed Walker has been playing really well and they rewarded him with first-team LT reps yesterday.
• Matt LaFleur very complimentary of Anthony Johnson Jr both on defense and special teams on Friday.

[Refugee]

2 hours ago, squire12 said:

LaFleur Presser:

• LaFleur said Rasheed Walker has been playing really well and they rewarded him with first-team LT reps yesterday.
• Matt LaFleur very complimentary of Anthony Johnson Jr both on defense and special teams on Friday.

Next year, Clifford takes the reigns at QB, Walker at LT, Saquon comes over and we get Quarless out of retirement. Happy Valley comes to GB. 

[craig]

Fun to have favorable feedback on the WR group.  By accounts Toure, Wicks, and Heath have all looked good.  And now Dubose is back in camp, and has apparently looked good too.  Would be really fun if the room is young, healthy, and deep.  

I'd think Wicks, Heath, and Dubose are all good-sized guys with physiques suited to ST and blocking.  

[packfanfb]

Hello darkness my old friend.

[R T]

6 minutes ago, packfanfb said:

Hello darkness my old friend.

I would like to see the actual play myself; the social media people have gotten on the Newman bashing wagon hard and suggest some of these are worse than they really are. 

Before people want to jump me as a Newman apologist, I didn't have him making the 53 in my latest projection.   

[Old Guy]

35 minutes ago, packfanfb said:

Hello darkness my old friend.

I don't dislike Newman, he just may not be strong enough to hold up in the NFL. 

[Brat&Beer]

Offense had been struggling until this.

 

[craig]

Some of Love's deep balls seem to have a lot of air under them.  Not sure how much of that is intentional:  give receiver time to track it and adjust to it?  Or if it's just that his arm isn't as strong as I've been used to for the past 30 years.  

I do imagine the "air" gives defenders more time to catch up and defend.  But yeah, giving receivers a little more time to track and pace themselves to either chase it or to block out the on-man defender could be kinda helpful.  Perhaps get more PI penalties that way, too?  

[packfanfb]

This is my nightmare scenario Week 1 against the Bears except we are down 1 at the time. After the game, when LaFleur is asked about Carlson, he responds with "it takes all 11." 

[craig]

Quote

Love all day to throw finds Watson on a deep crosser. Incomplete. Defender falls down trying to break it up. Watson takes it to the house. Probably 70 yard td. Awesome play. Love right on the money.

So, these are two different plays, I'm assuming?  Or was the "incomplete" a typo and meant to be "complete"?  

[Brat&Beer]

7 minutes ago, craig said:

So, these are two different plays, I'm assuming?  Or was the "incomplete" a typo and meant to be "complete"?  

I think it was a typo. 

[Brat&Beer]

Ryan Wood

@ByRyanWood

Anders Carlson is staying after practice kicking field goals.

 

[Lodestar]

45 minutes ago, craig said:

Some of Love's deep balls seem to have a lot of air under them.  Not sure how much of that is intentional:  give receiver time to track it and adjust to it?  Or if it's just that his arm isn't as strong as I've been used to for the past 30 years.  

I do imagine the "air" gives defenders more time to catch up and defend.  But yeah, giving receivers a little more time to track and pace themselves to either chase it or to block out the on-man defender could be kinda helpful.  Perhaps get more PI penalties that way, too?  

It’s something he and LaFleur have talked about repeatedly as a point of emphasis in their pressers. They’re asking him to put more air under those deep balls to let the receivers make the best adjustment. 

[Old Guy]

4 minutes ago, Brat&Beer said:

Ryan Wood

@ByRyanWood

Anders Carlson is staying after practice kicking field goals.

 

Great but are they going between the uprights or off to the side? 

[craig]

16 minutes ago, Lodestar said:

It’s something he and LaFleur have talked about repeatedly as a point of emphasis in their pressers. They’re asking him to put more air under those deep balls to let the receivers make the best adjustment. 

Thanks!  That makes sense.  Glad it's intentional and reasoned, rather than a reflection of arm strength. 

Dumb thought, but I think Brees and Brady were sometimes good at being both accurate but also throwing it with enough air that guys could adjust.  Sometimes Rodgers and Favre threw such rockets that guys didn't have time.  Not just deep throws.  Sometimes guys had to work so hard to just catch imperfect-but-catchable throws that adjusting their feet and catching in stride for YAC was hard.  

I think Rodgers improved on some of that in recent years.  Got a lot better on screen passes, for example, that were softer-and-more-catchable than back in the Starks era. 

Edited August 16, 2023 by craig